CHAPTER III.

1852-1853.

PERSONAL AND POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH THE PRESIDENT ELECT AND WITH MR.

MARCY, HIS SECRETARY OF STATE—BUCHANAN IS OFFERED THE MISSION TO

ENGLAND—HIS OWN ACCOUNT OF THE OFFER, AND HIS REASONS FOR

ACCEPTING IT—PARTING WITH HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS IN

LANCASTER—CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS NIECE.

The private correspondence between Mr. Buchanan and the new President,

General Pierce, and his Secretary of State, will best explain his

relations to this administration; and he has himself left a full record

of the circumstances under which he accepted the mission to England in

the summer of 1853.

[FROM GENERAL PIERCE.]

CONCORD, N. H., November 1, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Your kind letter of the 26th instant was received yesterday.

Your conclusion as to attending the meeting at Tammany Hall was what I

should have expected, marked by a nice sense of the fitness of things.

The telegraphic despatches received late this evening would seem to

remove all doubt as to the result of the election. Your signal part in

the accomplishment of that result is acknowledged and appreciated by

all. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you at no distant day.

Your friend,

FRANK PIERCE.

[FROM GENERAL PIERCE.]

CONCORD, N. H, December 7, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have been hoping ever since the election that I might have a

personal interview with you, if not before, certainly during the

present month. But the objections to such a meeting suggested by you

while I was at the sea-shore now exist, perhaps even with greater

force than at that time. With our known pleasant personal relation a

meeting would doubtless call forth many idle and annoying speculations

and groundless surmises.

An interchange of thoughts with Colonel King (whose returning health

is a source of great joy to me) would also be peculiarly pleasant and

profitable, but here, again, there are obstacles in the way. He cannot

come North, and I cannot go to Washington. Communication by letter is

still open. My thoughts for the last four weeks have been earnestly

turned to the formation of a cabinet. And although I must in the end

be responsible for the appointments, and consequently should follow my

own well-considered convictions, I cannot help saying often to myself

how agreeable it would be to compare conclusions upon this or that

point with Mr. Buchanan. I do not mean to trouble you with the many

matters of difficulty that evidently lie in my path. So far as I have

been able to form an opinion as to public sentiment and reasonable

public expectation, I think I am expected to call around me gentlemen

who have not hitherto occupied cabinet position, and in view of the

jealousies and embarrassments which environ any other course, this

expectation is in accordance with my own judgment, a judgment

strengthened by the impression that it is sanctioned by views

expressed by you. Regarding you with the confidence of a friend, and

appreciating your disinterested patriotism as well as your wide

experience and comprehensive statesmanship, I trust you will deem it

neither an intrusion nor annoyance when I ask your suggestions and

advice.

If not mistaken in this, you will confer a great favor by writing me,

as fully as you may deem proper, as to the launching (if I may so

express myself) of the incoming administration, and more especially in

regard to men and things in Pennsylvania. In relation to appointments

requiring prompt action after the inauguration, I shall, as far as

practicable, leave Concord with purposes definitely formed, and not

likely to be changed.

Should you deem that I ought not thus to tax you, burn the letter, but

give me, as of yore, your good will and wishes.

I shall regard, as you will of course, whatever passes between us as

in the strictest sense confidential.

Very truly, your friend,

FRANK PIERCE.

[MR. BUCHANAN TO GENERAL PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, December 11, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Your favor of the 7th instant reached me last evening.

You do me no more than justice in “regarding me with the free

confidence of a friend,” and I can say in all sincerity that, both for

your own sake and that of the country, I most ardently desire the

success of your administration. Having asked my suggestions and advice

“as to the launching of the incoming administration,” I shall

cheerfully give it, with all the frankness of friendship.

Your letter, I can assure you, has relieved me from no little personal

anxiety. Had you offered me a seat in your cabinet one month ago,

although highly gratified as I should have been with such a

distinguished token of your confidence and regard, I would have

declined it without a moment’s hesitation. Nothing short of an

imperative and overruling sense of public duty could ever prevail upon

me to pass another four years of my life in the laborious and

responsible position which I formerly occupied. Within the past month,

however, so many urgent appeals have been made to me from quarters

entitled to the highest respect, to accept the State Department, if

tendered, and this, too, as an act of public duty, in view of the

present perplexed and embarrassing condition of our foreign relations,

that in declining it, I should have been placed in an embarrassing

position from which I have been happily relieved by your letter.

But whilst I say this in all sincerity, I cannot assent to the

correctness of the general principle you have adopted, to proscribe in

advance the members of all former cabinets; nor do I concur with you

in opinion, that either public sentiment or public expectation

requires such a sweeping ostracism. I need scarcely, therefore, say

that the impression which you have derived of my opinion in favor of

this measure, from I know not whom, is without foundation. I should be

most unjust towards my able, enlightened and patriotic associates in

the cabinet of Mr. Polk, could I have entertained such an idea. So far

from it that, were I the President elect, I should deem it almost

indispensable to avail myself of the sound wisdom and experienced

judgment of one or more members of that cabinet, to assist me in

conducting the vast and complicated machinery of the Federal

Government. Neither should I be diverted from this purpose by the

senseless cry of “Old Fogyism” raised by “Young America.”

I think the members of Mr. Polk’s cabinet should be placed upon the

same level with the mass of their fellow-citizens, and neither in a

better nor a worse condition. I am not aware that any of them, unless

it may be Governor Marcy, either expects or desires a cabinet

appointment; and certainly all of them will most cheerfully accord to

you the perfect right of selecting the members of your own cabinet.

Still, to be excluded from your consideration, merely because they had

happened to belong to Mr. Polk’s cabinet, could not be very gratifying

to any of them.

To apply your own metaphor, “the launching of the incoming

administration” will, perhaps, be a more important and responsible

duty than has ever fallen to the lot of any of your predecessors. On

the selection of the navigators to assist you in conducting the vessel

of State, will mainly depend the success of the voyage. No matter how

able or skilful the commander may be, and without flattery, I

cheerfully accord to you both ability and skill, he can do but little

without the aid of able and skilful subordinates. So firmly am I

convinced of this truth, that I should not fear to predict the result

of your administration as soon as I shall learn who are the members of

your cabinet. In former times, when the Government was comparatively

in its infancy, the President himself could supervise and direct all

the measures of any importance arising under our complex but most

excellent system of government. Not so at present. This would no

longer be possible, even if the day consisted of forty-eight instead

of twenty-four hours. Hence, from absolute necessity, the members of

your administration will exercise much independent power. Even in

regard to those questions submitted more directly to yourself, from

want of time to make minute examinations of all the facts, you must

necessarily rely much upon the representations of the appropriate

Secretary. My strong and earnest advice to you, therefore, is not to

constitute your cabinet with a view to harmonize the opposite and

fleeting factions of the day; but solely with the higher and nobler

view of promoting the great interests of the country and securing the

glory and lasting fame of your own administration. You occupy a proud

and independent position, and enjoy a popularity which will render any

able and honest Democrat popular who may be honored by your choice for

a cabinet station, provided they are properly distributed over the

Union. In this respect, you are placed in a more enviable position

than almost any of your predecessors. It was a maxim of old Simon

Snyder, the shrewd and popular Governor of our State, that the very

best man ought to be selected for the office, and if not popular at

the moment, he would soon render himself popular. In view of these

important considerations, I would earnestly recommend to you the

practice of General Washington, never finally to decide an important

question until the moment which required its decision had nearly

approached.

I know that a state of suspense is annoying to the human mind; but it

is better to submit to this annoyance for a season than to incur the

risk of a more permanent and greater evil.

You say that you will leave Concord “with purposes definitely formed

and not likely to be changed.”

But is Concord the best locality in the world for acquiring reliable

information and taking extended views of our whole great country? To

Boston I should never resort for this purpose. Pardon me for

suggesting that you ought not to have your resolution definitely fixed

until after your arrival in Washington. In that city, although you

will find many interested and designing politicians, there are also

pure, honest and disinterested Democratic patriots.

Among this number is Colonel King, whom you so highly and justly

commend. He is among the best, purest and most consistent public men I

have ever known, and is also a sound judging and discreet counsellor.

You might rely with implicit confidence upon his information,

especially in regard to the Southern States, which I know are at the

present moment tremblingly alive to the importance of your cabinet

selections. I might cite the example of Mr. Polk. Although in council

with General Jackson, he had early determined to offer me the State

Department, yet no intimation of the kind was ever communicated to me

until a short time before his arrival in Washington, and then only in

an indirect manner; and in regard to all the other members of his

cabinet, he was wholly uncommitted, until the time for making his

selections had nearly approached.

It is true, he had strong predilections in favor of individuals before

he left Tennessee, but I do not think I hazard much in saying, that

had these been indulged, his administration would not have occupied so

high a place as it is destined to do in the history of his country.

One opinion I must not fail to express; and this is that _the cabinet

ought to be a unit_. I may say that this is not merely an opinion of

mine, but a strong and deep conviction. It is as clear to my mind as

any mathematical demonstration. Without unity no cabinet can be

successful. General Jackson, penetrating as he was, did not discover

this truth until compelled to dissolve his first cabinet on account of

its heterogeneous and discordant materials. I undertake to predict

that whoever may be the President, if he disregards this principle in

the formation of his cabinet, he will have committed a fatal mistake.

He who attempts to conciliate opposing factions by placing ardent and

embittered representatives of each in his cabinet, will discover that

he has only infused into these factions new vigor and power for

mischief. Having other objects in view, distinct from the success and

glory of the administration, they will be employed in strengthening

the factions to which they belong, and in creating unfortunate

divisions in Congress and throughout the country. It was a regard to

this vital principle of unity in the formation of his cabinet which

rendered Mr. Polk’s administration so successful. We were all personal

and political friends, and worked together in harmony. However various

our views might have been and often were upon any particular subject

when entering the cabinet council, after mutual consultation and free

discussion we never failed to agree at last, except on a very few

questions, and on these the world never knew that we had differed.

I have made these suggestions without a single selfish object. My

purpose is to retire gradually, if possible, and gracefully from any

active participation in public affairs, and to devote my time to do

historical justice to the administration of Mr. Polk, as well as to

myself, before the tribunal of posterity. I feel, notwithstanding, a

deep and intense interest in the lasting triumph of the good old cause

of Democracy and in that of its chosen standard bearer, to whose

success I devoted myself with a hearty good will.

The important domestic questions being now nearly all settled, the

foreign affairs of the Government, and especially the question of

Cuba, will occupy the most conspicuous place in your administration. I

believe Cuba can be acquired by cession upon honorable terms, and I

should not desire to acquire it in any other manner. The President who

shall accomplish this object will render his name illustrious, and

place it on the same level with that of his great predecessor, who

gave Louisiana to the Union. The best means of acquiring it, in my

opinion, is to enlist the active agency of the foreign creditors of

Spain, who have a direct interest in its cession to the United States.

The Rothschilds, the Barings, and other large capitalists now control,

to a great extent, the monarchies of continental Europe. Besides,

Queen Christina, who is very avaricious and exercises great influence

over her daughter, the queen of Spain, and her court, has very large

possessions in the island, the value of which would be greatly

enhanced by its cession to the United States. Should you desire to

acquire Cuba, the choice of suitable ministers to Spain, Naples,

England and France will be very important. Mr. Fillmore committed a

great outrage in publishing the Cuban correspondence. Had he, however,

not suppressed a material portion of my instructions to Mr. Saunders,

every candid man of all parties would have admitted, without

hesitation, that under the then existing circumstances it was the

imperative duty of Mr. Polk to offer to make the purchase. Indeed, I

think myself, it was too long delayed.

In my opinion, Mr. Clayton and Mr. Webster have involved our relations

with England in serious difficulties by departing from the Monroe

doctrine.

In Pennsylvania we have all been amused at the successive detachments

of those whom we call guerillas, which have visited Concord to assure

you that serious divisions exist among the Democracy of our State.

There never was anything more unfounded. The party is now more

thoroughly united than it has ever been at any period within my

recollection. Whilst the contest continued between General Cass and

myself, many honest Democrats, without a particle of personal or

political hostility to me, preferred him and espoused his cause simply

because he had been the defeated candidate. That feeling is at an end

with the cause which gave it birth, and these honest Democrats as

heartily despise the ——, the ——, the ——, the ——, the ——, the ——, etc.,

etc., as do my oldest and best friends. In truth the guerillas are now

chiefs without followers. They are at present attempting to galvanize

themselves at home through the expected influence of your

administration. Their tools, who will nearly all be applicants for

office, circulate the most favorable accounts from Concord. They were

scarcely heard of previous to the October election, which was the

battle of the 23d December; but if we are to believe them, they

achieved the victory of the 8th January. These are the men who

defeated Judge —— at the election in October, 1851, by exciting

Anti-Catholic prejudices against him, and who have always been

disorganizers whenever their personal interests came in conflict with

the success of the party. Thank Heaven, they are now altogether

powerless, and will so remain unless your administration should impart

to them renewed vigor. Their principal apprehension was that you might

offer me a seat in your cabinet, but for some time past they have

confidently boasted that their influence had already prevented this

dreaded consummation.

Their next assault will be upon my intimate friend, Judge ——, who

will, I have no doubt, be strongly presented to you for a cabinet

appointment. The Judge is able, honest and inflexibly firm, and did,

to say the very least, as much as any individual in the State to

secure our glorious triumph. I might speak in similar terms of ——. To

defeat such men, they will lay hold of ——, Mr. ——, or any other

individual less obnoxious to them, and make a merit of pressing him

for a cabinet appointment from Pennsylvania.

They calculate largely upon the influence of General Cass, who,

strangely enough, is devoted to them, although their advocacy rendered

it impossible that he should ever be nominated or elected by the vote

of the State.

As a private citizen, I shall take the liberty of recommending to you

by letter, at the proper time, those whom I consider the best

qualified candidates for different offices within our State, and you

will pay such attention to my recommendations as you may think they

deserve. I would not, if I could, exclude the honest friends of

General Cass from a fair participation.... They are and always have

been good Democrats, and are now my warm friends. But I shall ever

protest against the appointment of any of the disorganizers who,

professing Democracy, defeated Judge ——, and not content with

advocating General Cass in preference to myself, which they had a

perfect right to do, have spent their time and their money in abusing

my personal character most foully and falsely.

Even ——, the editor of the ——, whose paper was almost exclusively

devoted to the propagation of these slanders, to be circulated under

the frank of Senator —— throughout the South, for they had no

influence at home, is a hopeful candidate for office, as they profess,

under your administration.

I have now, from a sense of duty, written you by far the longest

letter I ever wrote in my life, and have unburdened my mind of a

ponderous load. I have nothing more to add, except a request that you

would present me kindly to Mrs. Pierce, and believe me to be always,

most respectfully,

Your friend,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

[GENERAL PIERCE TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

CONCORD, N. H., December 14, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Language fails me to express the sincere gratitude I feel for your

kind and noble letter of the 11th inst. I cannot now reply as I ought,

but lose no time in expressing my deep sense of obligation. I ought,

in justice to the citizens of Pennsylvania who have visited Concord

during the summer and autumn, to say that I do not recollect a single

individual who has ventured to make a suggestion in relation to

yourself, calculated in the slightest degree to weaken my personal

regard.

It is far from my purpose to hasten to any conclusion in relation to

my cabinet.

It is hardly possible that I can be more deeply impressed than I now

am as to the importance of the manner in which it shall be cast, both

for the interests of the country and my own comfort. I cannot,

however, view the advantages of my presence at Washington in the same

light with yourself, though having no object but the best interests of

our party and the country; personal inclination and convenience will,

if I know it, have no weight upon my course in any particular.

I must leave for a future time many things I desire to say. Do you

still anticipate passing a portion of the winter at the South?

With sincere regard, your friend,

FRANK PIERCE.

[MARCY TO BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON, March 5, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

If not a matter of strict duty, I choose to regard it as a proper

thing to explain my movements to you. A few days after the late

Presidential election, I went south with my son Edmund, about whose

condition as to health I had become alarmed, and am still very

solicitous. In the first week of February, he took a steamer for some

of the West India Islands, and I concluded it to be my duty to return

to my deserted family at Albany. I arrived at Richmond, Virginia,

about the 20th of February, with a disposition to pass on to the North

without going through Washington. As I had never done anything at that

place for which I ought to be ashamed (or rather I thought I had not),

it appeared to me it would be cowardly to run around or through it. I

was very much inclined to go and perchance to stop there a few days.

The doubts which distracted me in regard to my course were almost

entirely removed by a letter from a person whom I had never seen,

suggesting that it might be well for me to be in Washington about the

20th ult. On my appearance there a rumor suddenly arose that I was

certainly to be one of the new cabinet, and the same liberty was taken

with the names of several other persons. I have heard in an

unauthentic way that you had been wise enough to take precautions

against such a use of your name. It is now generally believed here,

and I believe it myself, that I may be in the cabinet of the incoming

administration, and (to confess all) I have been weak enough to make

up my mind to accept a seat if offered one in it. Should it be the

place you filled with so much ability, I may be rash enough not to

decline it. I have told you all; here I am and here I am likely to be,

for a brief period at least.

I do not think you will approve of what I have done. I hope you will

not severely censure me, or the judgment which will put me where I

expect to be. If it is an error, either on my part or that of another,

there are some circumstances to excuse it, but I have not time to

present them in detail.

I hope to have a frank and free intercourse with you. I will go

further, I hope to have—what I know I shall much need—the aid in some

emergencies of your greater experience and better knowledge. It will

give me sincere pleasure to hear from you.

Yours truly,

W. L. MARCY.

On the 30th of March (1853), the President wrote to Mr. Buchanan and

requested him to accept the mission to England. In his reply, Mr.

Buchanan postponed a final answer, and what ensued appears from the

following detailed account, which remains in his hand-writing.

Although gratified with this offer, I felt great reluctance in

accepting it. Having consulted several friends, in whose judgment I

have confidence, they all advised me to accept it, with a single

exception (James L. Reynolds). I left Lancaster for Washington on

Thursday, 7th April, wholly undecided as to my course. On Friday

morning (8th April) I called upon the President, who invited me to

dine with him “_en famille_” that day. The only strangers at the table

were Mr. John Slidell and Mr. O’Conor. After the dinner was over the

President invited me up to the library, where we held the following

conversation:

I commenced by expressing to him my warm and grateful acknowledgments

for the offer of this most important mission, and said I should feel

myself under the same obligations to him whether it was accepted or

declined; that at my age, and contented and happy as I was at home, I

felt no disposition to change my position, and again to subject myself

to the ceremonious etiquette and round of gaiety required from a

minister at a foreign court.

Here the President interrupted me and said: “If this had been my only

purpose in sending you abroad, I should never have offered you the

mission. You know very well that we have several important questions

to settle with England, and it is my intention that you shall settle

them all in London. The country expects and requires your services as

minister to London. You have had no competitor for this place, and

when I presented your name to the cabinet they were unanimous. I think

that under these circumstances I have a right to ask you to accept the

mission.”

To this I replied that Mr. Polk was a wise man, and after deliberation

he had determined that all important questions with foreign nations

should be settled in Washington, under his own immediate supervision;

that he (President Pierce) had not, perhaps, seriously considered the

question.

He promptly replied that he had seriously considered the question, and

had arrived at the conclusion that better terms could be obtained in

London at the seat of power than through an intermediate agent in this

country; and instanced the Oregon negotiation as an example.

From this opinion I did not dissent, but asked: “What will Governor

Marcy say to your determination? You have appointed him Secretary of

State with my entire approbation; and I do not think he would be

willing to surrender to your minister at London the settlement of

these important questions, which might reflect so much honor upon

himself.”

He replied, with some apparent feeling, that he himself would control

this matter.

I interposed and said: “I know that you do; but I would not become the

instrument of creating any unpleasant feelings between yourself and

your Secretary of State by accepting the mission, even if I desired

it, which is not the case.”

He replied that he did not believe this would be the case. When he had

mentioned my name to the cabinet, although he did not say in express

terms I should be entrusted with the settlement of these questions,

yet from the general tone of his remarks they must have inferred that

such was his intention. He added, that after our interview he would

address a note to Governor Marcy to call and see him, and after

conversing with him on the subject he would send for me.

I then mentioned to him that there appeared to me to be another

insurmountable obstacle to my acceptance of the mission. I said: “In

all your appointments for Pennsylvania, you have not yet selected a

single individual for any office for which I recommended him. I have

numerous other friends still behind who are applicants for foreign

appointments; and if I were now to accept the mission to London, they

might with justice say that I had appropriated the lion’s share to

myself, and selfishly received it as an equivalent for their

disappointment. I could not and would not place myself in this

position.”

His answer was emphatic. He said: “I can assure you, if you accept the

mission, Pennsylvania shall not receive one appointment more or less

on that account. I shall consider yours as an appointment for the

whole country; and I will not say that Pennsylvania shall not have

more in case of your acceptance than if you should decline the

mission.” I asked him if he was willing I should mention this

conversation publicly. He said he would rather not; but that I might

give the strongest assurances to my friends that such would be his

course in regard to Pennsylvania appointments.

We then had a conversation respecting the individual appointments

already made in Pennsylvania, which I shall not write. He told me

emphatically, that when he appointed Mr. Brown collector, he believed

him to be my friend, and had received assurances to that effect;

although he knew that I greatly preferred Governor Porter. He also had

been assured that Wynkoop was my friend, and asked if I had not

recommended him; and seemed much surprised when I informed him of the

course he had pursued.

I then stated, that if I should accept the mission, I could not

consent to banish myself from my country for more than two years. He

replied, that at the end of two years I might write to him for leave

to return home, and it should be granted; adding, that if I should

settle our important questions with England at an earlier period, I

might return at the end of eighteen months, should I desire it.

The interview ended, and I heard nothing from the President on Friday

evening, Saturday or Sunday, or until Monday morning. In the mean

time, I had several conversations with particular friends, and

especially with Mr. Walker (at whose house I stayed), Judge Campbell

and Senator Bright, all of whom urged me to accept the mission. The

latter informed me that if I did not accept it, many would attribute

my refusal to a fear or an unwillingness to grapple with the important

and dangerous questions pending between the United States and Great

Britain.

On Sunday morning, April 10th, the _Washington Union_ was brought to

Mr. Walker’s, from which it appeared that the session of the Senate

would terminate on the next day at one o’clock, the President having

informed the Committee to wait upon him, that he had no further

communications to make to the body. At this I was gratified. I

presumed that the President, after having consulted Governor Marcy,

had concluded not to transfer the negotiations to London; because it

had never occurred to me that I was to go abroad on such an important

mission without the confirmation of the Senate. Mr. Walker and myself

had some conversation on the subject, and we agreed that it was

strange the Senate had been kept so long together without submitting

to them the important foreign appointments; as we both knew that in

Europe, and especially in England, since the rejection of Mr. Van

Buren’s appointment, a minister had not the proper prestige without

the approbation of the co-ordinate branch of the Executive power.

On Sunday morning, before dinner-time, I called to see Jefferson

Davis.[6] We had much conversation on many subjects. Among other

things, I told him it was strange that the foreign appointments had

not been agreed upon and submitted to the Senate before their

adjournment. He replied that he did not see that this could make any

difference; they might be made with more deliberation during the

recess. I said a man was considered but half a minister, who went

abroad upon the President’s appointment alone, without the consent of

the Senate, ever since the rejection of Mr. Van Buren. He said he now

saw this plainly; and asked why Marcy had not informed them of

it,—they trusted to him in all such matters. The conversation then

turned upon other subjects; but this interview with Mr. Davis, sought

for the purpose of benefiting my friend, John Slidell, who was then a

candidate for the Senate, has doubtless been the cause why I was

nominated and confirmed as minister to England on the next day.

Footnote 6:

Mr. Davis was Secretary of War.

On Sunday evening a friend informed Mr. Walker and myself that a

private message had been sent to the Senators still in town,

requesting them not to leave by the cars on Monday morning, as the

President had important business to submit to them. This was

undoubtedly the origin of the rumor which at the time so extensively

prevailed, that the cabinet was about to be dissolved and another

appointed.

On Monday morning, at ten o’clock, I received a note from Mr.

Cushing,[7] informing me that “the President would be glad to see me

at once.” I immediately repaired to the White House; and the President

and myself agreed, referring to our former conversation, though not

repeating it in detail, that he should send my name to the Senate. If

a quorum were present, and I should be confirmed, I would go to

England; if not, the matter was to be considered as ended.

Thirty-three members were present, and I was confirmed. On this second

occasion, our brief conversation was of the same character, so far as

it proceeded, with that at our first interview. He kindly consented

that I should select my own Secretary of Legation; and without a

moment’s hesitation, I chose John Appleton, of Maine, who accepted the

offer which I was authorized to make, and was appointed. I left

Washington on Tuesday morning, April 12th.

Footnote 7:

Attorney General.

At our last interview, I informed the President that I would soon

again return to Washington to prepare myself for the performance of my

important duties, because this could only be satisfactorily done in

the State Department. He said he wished to be more at leisure on my

return, that he might converse with me freely on the questions

involved in my mission; he thought that in about ten days the great

pressure for office would relax, and he would address me a note

inviting me to come.

I left Washington perfectly satisfied, and resolved to use my best

efforts to accomplish the objects of my mission. The time fixed upon

for leaving the country was the 20th of June, so that I might relieve

Mr. Ingersoll on the 1st of July.

I had given James Keenan of Greensburg a strong recommendation for

appointment as consul to Glasgow. As soon as he learned my appointment

as minister to England, he wrote to me on the 14th of April, stating

that the annunciation of my acceptance of this mission had created a

belief among my friends there that no Pennsylvanian could now be

appointed to any consulship.

On the 16th of April, I wrote to him and assured him, in the language

of the President, that my appointment to the English mission would not

cause one appointment more or one appointment less to be given to

Pennsylvania than if I had declined the mission.

In answer, I received a letter from him, dated April 21st, in which he

extracts from a letter from Mr. Drum, then in Washington, to him, the

following: “I have talked to the President earnestly on the subject

(of his appointment to Glasgow), but evidently without making much

impression. He says that it will be impossible for him to bestow

important consulships on Pennsylvania who has a cabinet officer and

_the first and highest mission_. Campbell talks in the same strain;

but says he will make it his business to get something worthy of your

acceptance.”

For some days before and after the receipt of this letter, I learned

that different members of the cabinet, when urged for consulates for

Pennsylvanians, had declared to the applicants and their friends that

they could not be appointed _on account of my appointment to London_,

and what the President had already done for the State. One notable

instance of this kind occurred between Colonel Forney and Mr. Cushing.

Not having heard from the President, according to his promise, I

determined to go to Washington for the purpose of having an

explanation with him and preparing myself for my mission. Accordingly,

I left home on Tuesday, May 17th, and arrived in Washington on

Wednesday morning, May 18th, remaining there until Tuesday morning,

May 31st, on which day I returned home.

On Thursday morning, May 19th, I met the President, by appointment, at

9½ o’clock. Although he did not make a very clear explanation of his

conversation with Mr. Drum, yet I left him satisfied that he would

perform his promise in regard to Pennsylvania appointments. I had not

been in Washington many days before I clearly discovered that the

President and cabinet were intent upon his renomination and

re-election. This I concluded from the general tendency of affairs, as

well as from special communications to that effect from friends whom I

shall not name. It was easy to perceive that the object in

appointments was to raise up a Pierce party, wholly distinct from the

former Buchanan, Cass, and Douglas parties; and I readily perceived,

what I had before conjectured, the reason why my recommendations had

proved of so little avail. I thought I also discovered considerable

jealousy of Governor Marcy, who will probably cherish until the day of

his death the anxious desire to become President. I was convinced of

this jealousy at a dinner given Mr. Holmes, formerly of South

Carolina, now of California, at Brown’s Hotel on Saturday, May 21st.

Among the guests were Governor Marcy, Jefferson Davis, Mr. Dobbin, and

Mr. Cushing. The company soon got into high good humor. In the course

of the evening Mr. Davis began to jest with Governor Marcy and myself

on the subject of the next Presidency, and the Governor appeared to

relish the subject. After considerable _bagatelle_, I said I would

make a speech. All wanted to hear my speech. I addressed Governor

Marcy and said: “You and I ought to consider ourselves out of the list

of candidates. We are both growing old, and it is a melancholy

spectacle to see old men struggling in the political arena for the

honors and offices of this world, as though it were to be their

everlasting abode. Should you perform your duties as Secretary of

State to the satisfaction of the country during the present

Presidential term, and should I perform my duties in the same manner

as minister to England, we ought both to be content to retire and

leave the field to younger men. President Pierce is a young man, and

should his administration prove to be advantageous to the country and

honorable to himself, as I trust it will, there is no good reason why

he should not be renominated and re-elected for a second term.” The

Governor, to do him justice, appeared to take these remarks kindly and

in good part, and said he was agreed. They were evidently very

gratifying to Messrs. Davis, Dobbin, and Cushing. Besides, they

expressed the real sentiments of my heart. When the dinner was ended,

Messrs. Davis and Dobbin took my right and left arm and conducted me

to my lodgings, expressing warm approbation of what I had said to

Governor Marcy. I heard of this speech several times whilst I remained

at Washington; and the President once alluded to it with evident

satisfaction. It is certain that Governor Marcy is no favorite.

I found the State Department in a wretched condition. Everything had

been left by Mr. Webster topsy turvy; and Mr. Everett was not

Secretary long enough to have it put in proper order; and whilst in

that position he was constantly occupied with pressing and important

business. Governor Marcy told me that he had not been able, since his

appointment, to devote one single hour together to his proper official

duties. His time had been constantly taken up with office-seekers and

cabinet councils. It is certain that during Mr. Polk’s administration

he had paid but little attention to our foreign affairs; and it is

equally certain that he went into the Department without much

knowledge of its appropriate duties. But he is a strong-minded and

clear-headed man; and, although slow in his perceptions, is sound in

his judgment. He may, and I trust will, succeed; but yet he has much

to learn.

Soon after I arrived in Washington on this visit, I began seriously to

doubt whether the President would eventually entrust to me the

settlement of the important questions at London, according to his

promise, without which I should not have consented to go abroad. I

discovered that the customary and necessary notice in such cases had

not been given to the British government, of the President’s intention

and desire to transfer the negotiations to London, and that I would go

there with instructions and authority to settle all the questions

between the two governments, and thus prepare them for the opening of

these negotiations upon my arrival.

After I had been in Washington some days, busily engaged in the State

Department in preparing myself for the duties of my mission, Mr. Marcy

showed me the project of a treaty which had nearly been completed by

Mr. Everett and Mr. Crampton, the British minister, before Mr.

Fillmore’s term had expired, creating reciprocal free trade in certain

enumerated articles, between the United States and the British North

American provinces, with the exception of Newfoundland, and regulating

the fisheries. Mr. Marcy appeared anxious to conclude this treaty,

though he did not say so in terms. He said that Mr. Crampton urged its

conclusion; and he himself apprehended that if it were not concluded

speedily, there would be great danger of collision between the two

countries on the fishing grounds. I might have answered, but did not,

that the treaty could not be ratified until after the meeting of the

Senate in December; and that in the mean time it might be concluded at

London in connection with the Central American questions. I did say

that the great lever which would force the British government to do us

justice in Central America was their anxious desire to obtain

reciprocal free trade for their North American possessions, and thus

preserve their allegiance and ward off the danger of their annexation

to the United States. My communications on the extent and character of

my mission were with the President himself, and not with Governor

Marcy; and I was determined they should so remain. The President had

informed me that he had, as he promised, conversed with the Governor,

and found him entirely willing that I should have the settlement of

the important questions at London.

The circumstances to which I have referred appeared to me to be

significant. I conversed with the President fully and freely on each

of the three questions, viz: The reciprocal trade, the fisheries, and

that of Central America; and endeavored to convince him of the

necessity of settling them all together. He seemed to be strongly

impressed with my remarks, and said that he had conversed with a

Senator then in Washington, (I presume Mr. Toucey, though he did not

mention the name,) who had informed him that he thought that the

Senate would have great difficulty in ratifying any treaty which did

not embrace all the subjects pending between us and England; and that

for this very reason there had been considerable opposition in the

body to the ratification of the Claims Convention, though in itself

unexceptionable.

The President said nothing from which an inference could be fairly

drawn that he had changed his mind as to the place where the

negotiation should be conducted; and yet he did not speak in as strong

and unequivocal terms on the subject as I could have desired. Under

all the circumstances, I left Washington, on the 31st of May, without

accepting my commission, which had been prepared for me and was in the

State Department. On the 5th of June I received a letter from Governor

Marcy, dated on the first, requesting me to put on paper my exposition

of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty. In this he says nothing about my

instructions on any of the questions between this country and England,

nor does he intimate that he desires my opinion for any particular

purpose. On the 7th of June I answered his letter. In the concluding

portion of my letter, I took the occasion to say: “The truth is that

our relations with England are in a critical condition. Throw all the

questions together into hotchpot, and I think they can all be settled

amicably and honorably. The desire of Great Britain to establish free

trade between the United States and her North American possessions,

and by this means retain these possessions in their allegiance, may be

used as the powerful lever to force her to abandon her pretensions in

Central America; and yet it must be admitted that, in her history, she

has never voluntarily abandoned any important commercial position on

which she has once planted her foot. It cannot be her interest to go

to war with us, and she must know that it is clearly her interest to

settle all the questions between us, and have a smooth sea hereafter.

If the Central American question, which is the dangerous question,

should not be settled, we shall probably have war with England before

the close of the present administration. Should she persist in her

unjust and grasping policy on the North American continent and the

adjacent islands, this will be inevitable at some future day; and

although we are not very well prepared for it at the present moment,

it is not probable that we shall for many years be in a better

condition.”

I also say in this letter to Governor Marcy, that “bad as the treaty

(the Clayton and Bulwer treaty) is, the President cannot annul it.

This would be beyond his power, and the attempt would startle the

whole world. In one respect it may be employed to great advantage. The

question of the Colony of the Bay of Islands is the dangerous

question. It affects the national honor. From all the consideration I

can give the subject, the establishment of this Colony is a clear

violation of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty. Under it we can insist

upon the withdrawal of Great Britain from the Bay of Islands. Without

it we could only interpose the Monroe doctrine against this colony,

which has never yet been sanctioned by Congress, though as an

individual citizen of the United States, I would fight for it

to-morrow, so far as all North America is concerned, and would do my

best to maintain it throughout South America.”

This letter of mine to Governor Marcy, up till the present moment,

June 25, has elicited no response. It may be seen at length in this

book.

Having at length determined to ascertain what were the President’s

present intentions in regard to the character of my mission, I

addressed him a letter, of which the following is a copy, on the 14th

June.

[TO HIS EXCELLENCY, FRANKLIN PIERCE.]

(Private.) WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, June 14,

1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have this moment received yours of the 11th instant, and now enclose

you Mr. Appleton’s resignation. I cannot imagine how I neglected to do

this before. It will be very difficult to supply his place.

If you have changed your mind in regard to the place where our

important negotiations with England shall be conducted, you would

confer a great favor upon me by informing me of this immediately. I

stated to you, in our first conversation on the subject, that Mr.

Polk, after due deliberation, had determined that such negotiations

should be conducted under his own eye at Washington; and it would not

give me the slightest uneasiness to learn, that upon reconsideration,

such had become your determination. I should, however, consider it a

fatal policy to divide the questions. After a careful examination and

study of all these questions, and their mutual bearings upon each

other and upon the interest of the two countries, I am fully convinced

that they can only be satisfactorily adjusted all together. Indeed,

from what you said to me of your conversation with a Senator, and from

what I have since learned, I believe it would be difficult to obtain

the consent of two-thirds of the Senate to any partial treaty. The

South, whether correctly or not, will probably be averse to a

reciprocity treaty confined to the British North American possessions;

and it would be easy for hostile demagogues to proclaim, however

unjustly, that the interests of the South had been bartered away for

the fisheries. But the South might and probably would be reconciled to

such a treaty, if it embraced a final and satisfactory adjustment of

the questions in Central America.

If you have changed your mind, and I can imagine many reasons for

this, independently of the pressure of the British minister to secure

that which is so highly prized by his government,—then, I would

respectfully suggest that you might inform Mr. Crampton, you are ready

and willing to negotiate upon the subject of the fisheries and

reciprocal trade; _but this in connection with our Central American

difficulties_;—that you desire to put an end to all the embarrassing

and dangerous questions between the two governments, and thus best

promote the most friendly relations hereafter;—and that you will

proceed immediately with the negotiation and bring it to as speedy a

conclusion as possible, whenever he shall have received the necessary

instructions. Indeed, the treaty in regard to reciprocal trade and the

fisheries might, in the mean time, be perfected, with a distinct

understanding, however, that its final execution should be postponed

until the Central American questions had been adjusted. In that event,

as I informed you when at Washington, if you should so desire, I shall

be most cordially willing to go there as a private individual, and

render you all the assistance in my power. I know as well as I live,

that it would be vain for me to go to London to settle a question

peculiarly distasteful to the British government, after they had

obtained, at Washington, that which they so ardently desire.

I write this actuated solely by a desire to serve your administration

and the country. I shall not be mortified, in the slightest degree,

should you determine to settle all the questions in Washington.

Whether [you do so] or not, your administration shall not have a

better friend in the country than myself, nor one more ardently

desirous of its success; and I can render it far more essential

service as a private citizen at home than as a minister to London.

With my kindest regards for Mrs. Pierce, and Mrs. Means,

I remain, very respectfully, your friend,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

P.S.—I should esteem it a personal favor to hear from you as soon as

may be convenient.

From the important character of this letter and the earnest and

reiterated request which I made for an early answer, I did not doubt but

that I should receive one, giving me definite information, with as

little delay as possible. I waited in vain until the 23d June; and

having previously ascertained, through a friend, that my letter had been

received by the President, I wrote him a second letter on that day, of

which the following is a copy.

[TO HIS EXCELLENCY, FRANKLIN PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, June 23, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Not having yet been honored with an answer to my letter of the 14th

inst., I infer from your silence, as well as from what I observe in

the public journals, that you have finally changed your original

purpose and determined that our important negotiations with England

shall be conducted under your own eye at Washington, and not in

London. Anxious to relieve you from all embarrassment upon the

subject, I desire to express my cordial concurrence in such an

arrangement, if it has been made; and I do this without waiting longer

for your answer, as the day is now near at hand which was named for my

departure from the country.[8] Many strong reasons, I have no doubt,

exist, to render this change of purpose entirely proper and most

beneficial for the public interest. I am not at all surprised at it,

having suggested to you, when we conversed upon the subject, that Mr.

Polk, who was an able and a wise man, had determined that our

important negotiations with foreign powers, so far as this was

possible, should be conducted at Washington, by the Secretary of

State, under his own immediate supervision. With such a change I shall

be altogether satisfied, nay, personally gratified; because it will

produce a corresponding change in my determination to accept the

English mission.

I never had the vanity to imagine that there were not many Democratic

statesmen in the country who could settle our pending questions with

England quite as ably and successfully as myself; and it was,

therefore, solely your own voluntary and powerful appeal to me to

undertake the task which could have overcome my strong repugnance to

go abroad. Indeed, when I stated to you how irksome it would be for

me, at my period of life and with my taste for retirement, again for

the second time to pass through the routine and submit to the

etiquette necessary in representing my country at a foreign court, you

kindly remarked that you were so well convinced of this that you would

never have offered me the mission had it not been for your deliberate

determination that the negotiations on the grave and important

questions between the two countries should be conducted by myself at

London, under your instructions; observing that, in your opinion,

better terms could be obtained for our country at the fountain of

power than through the intermediate channel of the British minister at

Washington.

At any time a foreign mission would be distasteful to me; but peculiar

reasons of a private and domestic character existed at the time I

agreed to accept the British mission, and still exist, which could

only have yielded to the striking view you presented of the high

public duty which required me to undertake the settlement of these

important questions. You will, therefore, be kind enough to permit me,

in case your enlightened judgment has arrived at the conclusion that

Washington, and not London, ought to be the seat of the negotiations,

most respectfully to decline the mission. For this you have doubtless

been prepared by my letter of the 14th instant.

With my deep and grateful acknowledgments for the high honor you

intended for me, and my ardent and sincere wishes for the success and

glory of your administration and for your own individual health,

prosperity and happiness, I remain, very respectfully,

Your friend,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

To this letter I received an answer on Tuesday evening, June 28th, of

which the following is a copy:

Footnote 8:

9th July.

[PRESIDENT PIERCE TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 26th, 1853.

MR DEAR SIR:—

I was much surprised by the perusal of your letter of the 23d inst.,

received this morning. I had seen no letter from you since that to

which I replied on the 11th inst., and was mortified that through a

mistake of my own, and from no neglect of my private secretary, it had

been misplaced from a large mail of the 17th, with one or two other

letters, and had thus entirely escaped my notice. The motives which

led me to desire your acceptance of the mission to England were fully

stated, first, I think, in my note addressed to you at Wheatland, and

subsequently in our interview. The general views which were expressed

by me at that interview as to the relative advantages of conducting

the negotiations here or at London has undergone no change. Still, the

present condition of affairs with respect to the fisheries and the

various questions connected therewith has seemed to demand that they

be taken up where Mr. Crampton and Mr. Everett left them. Recent

developments have inspired the belief that the fisheries, the

reciprocity question, etc. will leave no ground of concession which

could be available in the settlement of the questions in Central

America. The threatening aspect of affairs on the coast in the

provinces has of necessity called for several conversations between

Mr. Crampton and the Secretary of State, with a view to keep things

quiet there, and, if practicable, to agree upon terms of a

satisfactory adjustment. To suspend these negotiations at this moment,

in the critical condition of our interests in that quarter, might, I

fear, prove embarrassing, if not hazardous. That a treaty can be, or

had better be, concluded here, I am not prepared to say. I have no

wish upon the subject except that the negotiations be conducted

wherever they can be brought to the most speedy and advantageous

termination. The great respect for your judgment, experience, high

attainments and eminent abilities, which led me to tender to you the

mission to England, will induce me to commit to your hands all the

pending questions between the two countries, unless the reasons for

proceeding here with those to which I have referred, shall appear

quite obvious. I need not say that your declination at this time would

be embarrassing to me, and for many reasons a matter to be deeply

regretted.

I thank you for your generous expressions, and assure you that your

heart acknowledges no feeling of personal kindness to which mine does

not respond. If the tax be not too great, will you oblige me by

visiting Washington again? I trust a comparison of conclusions, with

the facts before us, may conduct to a result mutually satisfactory.

With the highest respect, your friend,

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

[MR. BUCHANAN TO PRESIDENT PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, June 29th, 1853.

MR DEAR SIR:—

Your favor of the 26th inst. did not reach Lancaster until yesterday

afternoon. I had thought it strange that you did not answer my letter

of the 14th instant; but this accidental omission has been kindly and

satisfactorily explained by your favor of the 26th.

It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary for me to repeat my unchanged

purpose to accept the English mission and go to London without delay,

if it be still your determination to intrust me with the settlement of

the reciprocity, the fishery and the Central American questions. I

confess, however, that I do not perceive how it is now possible,

employing your own language, “to suspend negotiations (in Washington)

at this moment” on the reciprocity and fishery questions. I agree with

you that it was quite natural that the negotiations “should be taken

up at once, where Mr. Crampton and Mr. Everett left them.” This could

only have been prevented by an official communication to Mr. Crampton,

upon offering to renew the negotiation, informing him of the fact that

you had appointed me minister to London for the very purpose of

settling these, as well as the Central American, questions.

In regard to our Central American difficulties, I still entertain,

after more mature reflection, the most decided opinions—I might even

say convictions. Whilst these difficulties are all embarrassing, one

of them is attended with extreme danger. I refer to the establishment

by Great Britain of the Colony of the Bay of Islands. This wrong has

been perpetrated, if I understand the question, in direct violation of

the Clayton and Bulwer treaty. Our national honor imperatively

requires the removal of this colony. Its withdrawal ought to be a sine

qua non in any negotiation on any subject with the British government.

With what face could we ever hereafter present this question of

violated faith and outraged national honor to the world against the

British government, if whilst, flagrante delicto, the wrong

unexplained and unredressed, we should incorporate the British North

American provinces, by treaty, into the American Union, so far as

reciprocal free trade is concerned? How could we, then, under any

circumstances, make this a casus belli? If a man has wronged and

insulted me, and I take him into my family and bestow upon him the

privileges of one of its members, without previous redress or

explanation, it is then too late to turn round and make the original

offence a serious cause for personal hostilities. It is the first step

which costs; and this ought to be taken with a clear view of all the

consequences. If I were placed in your exalted and well merited

station, my motto should be, “all the questions or none.” This is the

best, nay, perhaps the only mode of satisfactorily adjusting our

difficulties with that haughty, overreaching and imperious government.

My sole object in agreeing to accept a mission, so distasteful to me

in all other respects, was to try the experiment, under your

instructions, well knowing that I should receive from you a firm and

enlightened support. I still cherish the confident belief we should

have proved successful. It would now seem to be too late to transfer

the negotiation to London; but you may still insist that _all_ the

questions shall be settled together in Washington. They still remain

there just as they were in Mr. Fillmore’s time. Why, then, should Mr.

Crampton have received instructions in two of them, and not in the

third?

But I have said and written so much to yourself and Governor Marcy

upon the danger of dividing these questions, that I shall only add

that, were I a Senator, I could not in conscience vote for the

ratification of any partial treaty in the present condition of our

relations with Great Britain. And here I would beg respectfully to

make a suggestion which, if approved by you, might remove all

difficulties. Let Governor Marcy and Mr. Crampton arrange the

reciprocity and fishery questions as speedily as possible; and then

let me carry the perfected projet with me to London, to be executed

there, provided I shall succeed in adjusting the Central American

questions according to your instructions; but in no other event. In

this manner the reciprocity question, as arranged by the Secretary of

State, might still be used as the powerful lever to force a just

settlement of the Central American questions. Indeed, in communicating

your purpose in this respect to Mr. Crampton, Governor Marcy might

address him a note which would essentially assist me in the Central

American negotiation. As the reciprocity and fishery treaty would not

be submitted to the Senate until December, this arrangement would be

productive of no delay.

I should cheerfully visit Washington, or go a thousand miles to serve

you in any manner, but I doubt whether this would be good policy under

existing circumstances. The public journals would at once announce

that I had arrived in Washington to receive my commission and

instructions, and depart for Europe. Finding this not to be the case,

they would presume that some misunderstanding had occurred between you

and myself, which prevented me from going abroad. Is it not better to

avoid such suspicions? If I should not go to England, a brief

explanation can be made in the _Union_ which will put all right, and

the whole matter will be forgotten in a week. After all, however,

should you still wish me to go to Washington, please to have me

telegraphed, because the mail is almost always two, and sometimes

three days in reaching me.

In regard to myself personally, if the expedient which I have

suggested should not be adopted, or something similar to it, then I

should have no business of importance to transact in London, and

should, against all my tastes and inclinations, again subject myself

to the ceremonies, etiquette and round of gaiety required from a

minister at a foreign court. But this is not all. I should violate my

private and social duties towards an only brother, in very delicate

health, and numerous young relatives, some of whom are entirely

dependent upon me and now at a critical period of life, without the

self-justification of having any important public duties to perform.

So reluctant was I, at the first, to undertake the task which, in your

kindness, you had prescribed for me, that my mind was not finally made

up, until a distinguished Senator bluntly informed me, that if I

shrank from it, this would be attributed to a fear of grappling with

the important and dangerous questions with England which had been

assigned to me, both by the voice of the President and the country.

I regret that I have not time, before the closing of the mail, to

reduce my letter to any reasonable dimensions.

From your friend, very respectfully,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

Wednesday, July 6th, at about 6 o’clock in the afternoon, Mr. Mann, the

son of the Assistant Secretary of State, arrives and presents me with a

private letter from Governor Marcy dated on the day previous, and a

sealed package which, upon opening, I found contained my commission and

instructions as minister to Great Britain, without the slightest

reference to the previous correspondence on the subject between the

President and myself, and just as though I had accepted, instead of

having declined the mission, and was now on the wing for London! He was

to find me wherever I might be. He left about sunset or between that and

dark. _Vide_ Governor Marcy’s letter, on page 30.

Thursday morning, July 7, the following letter from the President came

to hand, postmarked Washington, July 4th.

[PIERCE TO BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON, July 2, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Your letter of the 29th ultimo was received this morning, and I have

carefully considered its suggestions. The state of the questions now

under discussion between Mr. Crampton and Governor Marcy cannot with a

proper regard for the public interest, be suspended. It is not to be

disguised that the condition of things on the coast is extremely

embarrassing, so much so as to be the source of daily solicitude.

Nothing, it is to be feared, but the prospect of a speedy adjustment

will prevent actual collision. Mr. Crampton has become so deeply

impressed with the hazard of any ill-advised step on either side that

he left this morning with the view of having a personal interview with

Sir George Seymour. Thus, while I am not prepared to say that a treaty

can be concluded here, or that it will prove desirable upon the whole

that it should be, it is quite clear to my mind that the negotiations

ought not to be broken off; and that, with a proper regard to our

interests, the announcement cannot be made to Mr. Crampton that the

final adjustment of the fishery question must await the settlement of

the Central American questions. Believing that the instructions now

prepared would present my views in relation to the mission in the most

satisfactory manner, they will be forwarded to you to-morrow. I need

not repeat the deep regret your declination would occasion on my part.

What explanation could be given for it, I am unable to perceive.

I am, with the highest respect,

Truly your friend,

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

[BUCHANAN TO PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, July 7, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Yours of the 2d inst., postmarked on the 4th, did not reach me until

this morning at too late an hour to prepare and send an answer to

Lancaster in time for the southern mail. Young Mr. Mann arrived and

left last evening, a _most decided contre-temps_. Had your letter

preceded him, this would have saved me some labor, and, although a

very placid man, some irritation.

Although the opinions and purposes expressed in my letters of the

14th, 23d and 29th ultimo remain unchanged, yet so great is my

personal desire to gratify your wishes that I shall take the question

under reconsideration for a brief period. I observe from the papers

that you will be in Philadelphia, where I anticipate the pleasure of

paying you my respects. Then, if not sooner, I shall give your letter

a definite answer.

I hope that in the meantime you may look out for some better man to

take my place. You may rest assured I can manifest my warm friendship

for your administration and for yourself far more effectively as a

private citizen of Pennsylvania than as a public minister in London.

From your friend,

Very respectfully,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

[MARCY TO BUCHANAN.]

STATE DEPARTMENT, }

(Private) WASHINGTON, July 5, 1853. }

MY DEAR SIR:—

I expected you would be again in Washington before you left for

England, but as this is uncertain, I have concluded to send by the

bearer, Mr. W. G. C. Mann, the instructions which have been

prepared for you. I have preferred to send them in this way lest

they should not reach you in season if entrusted to the mail.

I should have been pleased with an opportunity of submitting them

to you, and having the benefit of any suggestions you might make

thereon; but I shall not have it, as you will not probably be here

before your departure on your mission. The instructions have been

carefully examined by the President, and made conformable to his

views. Should there be other documents than those now sent, which

it would be proper for you to take out, they will be forwarded to

our despatch agent at New York, and by him handed to you.

Very respectfully your obedient servant,

W. L. MARCY.

On Monday evening, July 11, 1853, I went to Philadelphia to meet

the President, according to my appointment. I saw him on Tuesday

afternoon at the head of the military procession, as it marched

from Market Street down Sixth to Independence Hall. He was on the

right of General Patterson, and being a good horseman, he appeared

to much advantage on horseback. He recognized me, as he rode

along, at the window of the second story of Lebo’s Commercial

Hotel.

The reception of the President in Philadelphia was all that his

best friends could have desired. Indeed, the Whigs seemed to vie

with the Democrats in doing honor to the Chief Magistrate. Price

Wetherell, the President of the Select Council, did his whole

duty, though in a fussy manner, and was much gratified with the

well-deserved compliments which he received. The dinner at

McKibbins’ was excellent and well conducted. We did not sit down

to table until nearly nine o’clock. The mayor, Mr. Gilpin,

presided. The President sat on his right, and myself on his left.

In the course of the entertainment he spoke to me, behind Mr.

Gilpin, and strongly expressed the hope that I would accept the

mission, to which I made a friendly, but indefinite answer. He

then expressed a desire to see me when the dinner should be ended;

but it was kept up until nearly midnight, the President cordially

participating in the hilarity of the scene. We then agreed to meet

the next morning.

After mature reflection, I had determined to reject the mission,

if I found this could be done without danger of an open breach

with the administration; but if this could not be done, I was

resolved to accept it, however disagreeable. The advice of

Governor Porter, then at McKibbins’, gave me confidence in the

correctness of my own judgment. My position was awkward and

embarrassing. There was danger that it might be said (indeed it

had already been insinuated in several public journals), that I

had selfishly thrown up the mission, because the fishery question

had not been entrusted to me, although I knew that actual

collision between the two countries on the fishery grounds might

be the consequence of the transfer of the negotiation to London.

Such a statement could only be rebutted by the publication of the

correspondence between the President and myself; but as this was

altogether private, such a publication could only be justified in

a case of extreme necessity.

Besides, I had no reason to believe that the President had taken

from me the reciprocity and fishery questions with any deliberate

purpose of doing me injury. On the contrary, I have but little

doubt that this proceeded from his apprehension that the

suspension of the negotiation might produce dangerous consequences

on the fishing grounds. I might add that his instructions to me on

the Central American questions were as full and ample as I could

desire. Many friends believed, _not without reason_, that if I

should decline the mission, Mr. Dallas would be appointed; and

this idea was very distasteful to them, though not to myself.

The following is the substance of the conversation between the

President and myself on Wednesday morning, the 13th of July,

partly at McKibbins’, and the remainder on board the steamer which

took us across to Camden. It was interrupted by the proceedings at

Independence Hall on Wednesday morning.

The President commenced the conversation by the expression of his

strong wish that I would not decline the mission. I observed that

the British government had imposed an absurd construction on the

fishery question, and without notice had suddenly sent a fleet

there to enforce it, for the purpose, as I believed, of obtaining

from us the reciprocity treaty. Under these circumstances I should

have said to Great Britain: You shall have the treaty, but you

must consent at the same time to withdraw your protectorate from

the Mosquito Coast, and restore to Honduras the colony of the Bay

of Islands. That this course might still be adopted at Washington,

and that in this view all the negotiations had better be conducted

there. Without answering these remarks specifically, the

President, reiterating his request that I should accept the

mission, spoke strongly of the danger of any delay, on our part,

in the adjustment of the fishery question, and said that Mr.

Crampton, deeply impressed with this danger, had gone all the way

to Halifax to see Admiral Seymour, for the purpose of averting

this danger. I observed that it was far, very far from my desire,

in the present state of the negotiation, to have charge of the

fishery negotiation at London; but still insisted that it was best

that the Central American questions should also be settled at

Washington. To this he expressed a decided aversion. He said that

serious difficulties had arisen, in the progress of the

negotiations, on the reciprocity question, particularly in regard

to the reciprocal registry of the vessels of the two parties; and

it was probable that within a short time the negotiation on all

the questions would be transferred to me at London, and that my

declining the mission at this time would be very embarrassing to

his administration, and could not be satisfactorily explained. I

replied that I thought it could. It might be stated in the _Union_

that after my agreement to accept the mission, circumstances had

arisen rendering it necessary that the negotiations with which I

was to be entrusted at London, should be conducted at Washington;

that I myself was fully convinced of this necessity; but that this

change had produced a corresponding change in my determination to

accept a mission which I had always been reluctant to accept, and

we had parted on the best and most friendly terms. Something like

this, I thought, would be satisfactory.

He answered that after such an explanation it would be difficult,

if not impossible, to get a suitable person to undertake the

mission. He had felt it to be his duty to offer me this important

mission, and he thought it was my duty to accept it. He said that

if the Central American questions should go wrong in London,

entrusted to other hands than my own, both he and I would be

seriously blamed. He said, with much apparent feeling, that he

felt reluctant to insist thus upon my acceptance of a mission so

distasteful to me.

Having fully ascertained, as I believed, that I could not decline

the mission without giving him serious offence, and without danger

of an open rupture with the administration, I said: “Reluctant as

I am to accept the mission, if you think that my refusal to accept

it would cause serious embarrassment to your administration, which

I am anxious to support, I will waive my objections and go to

London.” He instantly replied that he was rejoiced that I had come

to this conclusion, and that we should both feel greatly the

better for having done our respective duties. He added that I need

not hurry my departure. I told him that although my instructions

gave me all the powers I could desire on the Central American

questions, yet they had not been accompanied by any of the papers

and documents in the Department relating to these questions; that

these were indispensable, and without them I could not proceed. He

expressed some surprise at this, and said he would write to

Governor Marcy that very evening. I told him he need not trouble

himself to do this, as I should write to him myself immediately

after my return home.

This was on the river. I accompanied him to the cars, where I took

leave of him, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Davis and Mr. Cushing, who all

pressed me very much to go on with them to New York.

[TO CITIZENS OF LANCASTER.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, July 23, 1853.

GENTLEMEN:—

I have received your very kind invitation on behalf of my friends

and neighbors, to partake of a public dinner before my departure

for England.

No event of my past life has afforded me greater satisfaction than

this invitation, proceeding as it does, without distinction of

party, from those who have known me the longest and known me the

best.

Born in a neighboring county, I cast my lot among you when little

more than eighteen years of age, and have now enjoyed a happy home

with you for more than forty-three years, except the intervals

which I have passed in the public service. During this long period

I have experienced more personal kindness, both from yourselves

and from your fathers, than has, perhaps, ever been extended to

any other man in Pennsylvania who has taken so active a part, as I

have done, in the exciting political struggles which have so

peculiarly marked this portion of our history.

It was both my purpose and desire to pass the remainder of my days

in kind and friendly social intercourse with the friends of my

youth and of my riper years, when invited by the President of my

choice, under circumstances which a sense of duty rendered

irresistible, to accept the mission to London. This purpose is now

postponed, not changed. It is my intention to carry it into

execution, should a kind Providence prolong my days and restore me

to my native land.

I am truly sorry not to be able to accept your invitation. Such

are my engagements, that I can appoint no day for the dinner when

I could, with certainty, promise to attend. Besides, a farewell

dinner is at best but a melancholy affair. Should I live to

return, we shall then meet with joy, and should it then be your

pleasure to offer me a welcome home dinner, I shall accept it with

all my heart.

I cherish the confident hope that during my absence I shall live

in your kindly recollection, as my friends in Lancaster County

shall ever live in my grateful memory.

Cordially wishing you and yours, under the blessing of Heaven,

health, prosperity and happiness, I remain

Your friend and fellow-citizen,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

Here, in regard to this English mission and other matters, Mr.

Buchanan’s correspondence with his niece, Miss Lane, from February

to August, 1853, will show how tender and how important had now

become their relations to each other.

[TO MISS LANE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, Feb. 3, 1853.

MY DEAR HARRIET:—

I have passed the time quietly at home since I left Philadelphia,

toiling night and day, to reduce the pile of letters which had

accumulated during my absence. I have got nearly through and

intend to pass some days in Harrisburg next week. I have literally

no news to communicate to you. Miss Hetty and myself get along to

a charm. She expects Miss Rebecca Parker here to-day,—the promise

of Mr. Van Dyke. I hope she may come.

I received a letter yesterday from Mr. Pleasanton, dated on the

31st ultimo, from which the following is an extract:

“Clemmy wrote some two weeks ago to Miss Harriet asking her to

come here and spend some time with us. As she has not heard from

her, she supposes Miss Lane to be absent. Be good enough to

mention this to her, and our united wish that she should spend the

residue of the winter and the spring with us. There is much gaiety

here now, though we do not partake of it. We will contrive,

however, that Miss Lane shall participate in it.”

Now do as you please about visiting Washington. I hope you are

enjoying yourself in Philadelphia. Please to let me know where you

have been, what you have been doing, and what you propose to do. I

trust you will take good care of yourself, and always act under

the influence of high moral principle and a grateful sense of your

responsibility to your Creator.

Yours affectionately,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

[FROM MISS LANE.]

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 6, 1853.

MY DEAR UNCLE:—

I still continue to enjoy myself here, and have made many more

acquaintances than I have ever had the opportunity of doing

before. Lent commencing this week may in some degree affect the

pleasures of society, but of that, as yet, we cannot judge. As

regards Washington, I understand perfectly that, as far as you

yourself are concerned, you wish me to do as I feel inclined, but

your disinterested opinions are rather for a postponement of my

visit; these I had quietly resolved to act upon. Should you have

changed your mind or have any advice to give, let me know it at

once, for rest assured I am always happier and better satisfied

with myself when my actions are fully sanctioned by your wishes.

The day after you left we had an elegant dinner at Mrs.

Gilpin’s—many, many were the regrets that you were not present.

Mr. —— treated me with marked attention—drank wine with me first

at table—talked a great deal of you, and thinks you treated him

shabbily last summer by passing so near without stopping to see

him. I tell you these things, as I think they show a desire on his

part to meet you. —— was there, very quiet. How I longed for you

to eclipse them all, and be, as you always are, the life and soul

of the dinner. Thursday Mrs. John Cadwallader’s magnificent ball

came off. I enjoyed it exceedingly, and was treated most kindly.

James Henry received an invitation to it, but did not go. He has

returned to Princeton full of studious resolves.

I found my engagements such as to make it impossible for me to go

to Mrs. Tyler’s last week. I arranged everything satisfactorily to

all parties, and go there to stay to-morrow (Monday). Every

possible kindness has been shown me by Mr. and Mrs. Plitt, and my

visit to them has been delightful.

Mary Anderson remained here but a week on her return from

Washington. I passed a day with them very pleasantly......

No news from Mary yet. I miss her every hour in the day, but will

scarcely be able to count my loss, until I get home where I have

always been accustomed to see her. I had a letter from Lizzie

Porter telling me of her aunt’s death. My best love to Miss Hetty.

Mrs. Plitt sends her love. Hoping to hear from you very soon,

believe me ever, my dear uncle,

Your sincerely affectionate

HARRIET.

[TO MISS LANE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, March 15, 1853.

MY DEAR HARRIET:—

I received yours of the 11th, postmarked the 14th, last night. I

now receive about fifty letters per day; last Saturday sixty-nine;

and the cry is still they come, so that I must be brief. I labor

day and night.

You ask: Will you accept the mission to England? I answer that it

has not been offered, and I have not the least reason to believe,

from any authentic source, that it will be offered. Indeed, I am

almost certain that it will not, because surely General Pierce

would not nominate me to the Senate without first asking me

whether I would accept. Should the offer be made, I know not what

I might conclude. Personally, I have not the least desire to go

abroad as a foreign minister. But “sufficient unto the day is the

evil thereof.” I really would not know where to leave you, were I

to accept a foreign mission, and this would be one serious

objection.

I think you are wise in going to Mr. Macalester’s. You know how

much I esteem and admire Mrs. Tyler, but still a long visit to a

friend is often a great bore. Never make people twice glad. I have

not seen Kate Reynolds since her return, and have had no time to

see any person.

In remarking as I did upon your composition, I was far from

intending to convey the idea that you should write your letters as

you would a formal address. Stiffness in a letter is intolerable.

Its perfection is to write as you would converse. Still all this

may be done with correctness. Your ideas are well expressed, and

the principal fault I found was in your not making distinct

periods, or full stops, as the old schoolmasters used to say. Miss

——’s are probably written with too much care,—too much precision.

We have no news. We are jogging on in the old John Trot style, and

get along in great peace and harmony.

March 19, 1853.

I return you Mr. ——’s appeal, so that you may have it before you

in preparing your answer. The whole matter is supremely

ridiculous. I have no more reason to believe than I had when I

last wrote, that I shall be offered the mission to England. Should

his offer be made, it will be a matter of grave and serious

consideration whether I shall accept or decline it. I have not

determined this question. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil

thereof.” Should it be accepted, it will be on the express

condition that I shall have liberty to choose my own Secretary of

Legation; and from the specimen of diplomacy which Mr. —— has

presented, I think I may venture to say he will not be the man. I

would select some able, industrious, hard working friend, in whose

integrity and prudence I could place entire reliance. In fact, I

have the man now in my eye, from a distant State, to whom I would

make the offer—a gentleman trained by myself in the State

Department. I must have a man of business, and not a carpet

knight, who would go abroad to cut a dash.

Now you may say to Mr. —— that I know nothing of the intention of

the President to offer me the English mission, and that you are

equally ignorant whether I would accept or decline it (and this

you may say with truth, for I do not know myself). If accepted,

however, you presume that I would cast about among my numerous

friends for the best man for the appointment; and whatever your

own wishes might be, you would not venture to interfere in the

matter; that you took no part in such matters. This ought to be

the substance of your letter, which you may smooth over with as

many honeyed phrases as you please.

I think that a visit to Europe, with me as minister, would spoil

you outright, Besides, it would consume your little independence.

One grave objection to my acceptance of the mission, for which I

have no personal inclination, would be your situation. I should

dislike to leave you behind, in the care of any person I know. I

think there is a decided improvement in your last letter. Your

great fault was that your sentences ran into each other, without

proper periods.

Good night! I cannot say how many letters I have written to-day.

Thank Heaven! to-morrow will be a day of rest. I do not now expect

to visit Pittsburgh until after the first of April, though I have

a pecuniary concern there of some importance.

With my kindest regards to Miss Macalester and the family, I

remain, etc.

STATE DEPARTMENT, }

WASHINGTON, May 24, 1853. }

I have received your letter, and have not written until the

present moment because I did not know what to write. It is now

determined that I shall leave New York on Saturday, 9th July. I

cannot fix the day I shall be at home, because I am determined not

to leave this until posted up thoroughly on the duties of the

mission. I hope, however, I may be with you in the early part of

next week. I am hard at work.

I went from Willard’s to Mr. Pleasanton’s last evening. Laura and

Clemmie are well, and would, I have no doubt, send their love to

you if they knew I was writing. I have seen but few of the

fashionables, but have been overrun with visitors.

Remember me kindly to Miss Hetty and to James, and believe me to

be, etc.

NEW YORK, August 4, 1853.

—— —— called to see me this morning, and was particularly amiable.

He talked much of what his father had written and said to him

respecting yourself, expressed a great desire to see you, and we

talked much bagatelle about you. He intimated that his father had

advised him to address you. I told him he would make a very

rebellious nephew, and would be hard to manage. He asked where you

would be this winter, and I told him that you would visit your

relations in Virginia in the course of a month, and might probably

come to London next spring or summer. He said he would certainly

see you, and asked me for a letter of introduction to you, which I

promised to give him. As he was leaving, he told me not to forget

it, but give it to the proprietor of the Astor House before I

left, and I promised to do so. I told him that you had appreciated

his father’s kindness to you, felt honored and gratified for his

(the father’s) attentions, and admired him very much. He knew all

about your pleasant intercourse with his father in Philadelphia.

There was much other talk which I considered, and still consider,

to be bagatelle, yet the subject was pursued by him. As I have a

leisure moment, I thought I would prepare you for an interview

with him, in case you should meet. —— —— is a man of rare

abilities and great wit, and is quite eminent in his profession.

His political course has been eccentric, but he still maintains

his influence. I never saw him look so well as he did to-day. I

repeat that I believe all this to be bagatelle; and yet it seemed

to be mingled with a strong desire to see you.

Saturday Morning, August 6.

...... And now, my dear Harriet, I shall go aboard the Atlantic

this morning, with a firm determination to do my duty, and without

any unpleasant apprehensions of the result. Relying upon that

gracious Being who has protected me all my life until the present

moment, and has strewed my path with blessings, I go abroad once

more in the service of my country, with fair hopes of success. I

shall drop you a line from Liverpool immediately upon my arrival.

With my kindest regards to Miss Hetty, I remain,

Yours affectionately,

JAMES BUCHANAN.